1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of portable urinals in general, and in particular, to portable urinals for women which can be used while standing and while substantially clothed.
2. Prior Art
Portable urinals have been known generally for some time, particularly as used for bedridden patients. The simplest form is of course the bedpan. Bedpans are awkward, and not entirely reliable, that is, not leak-proof. An early alternative to such bedpans is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 241,863.
Portable urinals of a second sort are known, wherein urine is collected at a remote point. Examples of such urinals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,202,057, 4,202,058, and 4,270,539.
A third kind of portable urinal are those designed to store the urine immediately adjacent the discharge, for disposal or testing at a more convenient location. Examples of this type of portable urinal are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,727,244, 4,187,562, and 4,305,161.
A final type of portable urinal for women is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,216. A rigid device of plastic or other suitable materia1 gathers the poorly defined urinary efflux of a urinating human female in a normal standing position and directs it forwardly and downwardly in a defined stream to impinge on a chosen spot. The device comprises a trough open at the top and adapted to be positioned to register with the outlet of the urethra. There is a forwardly and downwardly inclined discharge conduit from the forward end of the trough. There is a replaceable absorbent pad at the rear of the trough to remove residual urine. Another embodiment, which is disposable, is made frmm foldable material such as paper with a waterproof lining.
The urinal disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,216 is an improvement over the other noted references insofar as it is suitable for non-medical and non-hospital uses, and is convenient to use, at least with respect to prior art devices known at the time. However, such a device has several disadvantages. Firstly, it is relatively large and bulky, requiring substantial disrobing prior to use. Secondly, there are no reliable means included for positioning the device with reasonable precision. Thirdly, it is not entirely reliable with respect to being leakproof.
This invention overcomes all of the difficulties with portable urinals in general, and in particular, with those of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,216. Portable urinals for women according to this invention have means formed thereon for precisely positioning the urinal, have means for sealably engaging the body to prevent leaks during use, and are formed with a particularly slim and flat profile. In fact, portable urinals according to this invention can be used with no more disrobing than is ordinarily necessary for a male. Moreover, in view of the particularly flat profile, portable urinals according to this invention include structure preventing undesirable and uncomfortable body contact with urine in the urinal during use.
A most unique feature of portable urinals according to this invention lies in the projecting structure used in properly positioning the urinal for use. It will be appreciated that fashion dictates many women to wear tight-fitting clothing, for example, tight jeans. Most women's jeans are in fact provided with zippers at the front, as with men's trousers. It is frequently the case when wearing such fashions that the lips of the vagina will be tightly sealed and overlapped by hair. This makes it literally impossible to urinate into a small receptacle without spilling over, in the absence of undressing completely, at least below the waist. The portable urinal according to this invention is therefore provided with a projection just sufficient to be used to gently separate the lips of the vagina at the area of the urethra. The projection then serves as a means to positively and precisely position the urinal by gently pressing the projection against the forward rim of the vagina. The flexible membrane is not only effective for sealing the urinal to the body, and preventing leakage or backflow into the vagina, but together with the projection is effective for wiping urine traces from the body after use, as the urinal is removed.
Rigid plastic provides sufficient structural strength to withstand the stresses encountered when utilizing the device with tight-fitting garments as described above.